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Reply to "PreTrib Rapture/PreMillennial Second Coming? - You Betcha!"

Hi Winston,

You tell me, "As I posted before, quoting the red-letter words of Jesus Christ:

29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her  light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:  30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  31 And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.  (Matthew 24:29-31 ASV)

Clearly, the rapture follows the tribulation."

Winston, Jesus Christ, in Matthew 28:15-28, is clearly speaking of His Second Coming.  We know this because, in verses 15 to 28, Jesus Christ is telling about the Great Tribulation which Daniel defines as starting with the Abomination of Desolation, i.e., when the Satan-possessed Antichrist will enter the temple and declare himself to be God.

The Tribulation, which begins shortly after the Rapture, is divided into two 3 1/2 year periods.  In the first 3 1/2 years, Israel will be deceived by the supposed world peace brought about under the rule of the Antichrist.  The Jews will once again be worshiping, in relative peace, in their temple rebuilt upon the Temple Mount.

Then, in the middle of the 7 year Tribulation, the Antichrist will enter and defame the temple of God.  Then, begins the Great Tribulation, 3 1/2 years of pure hell on earth under the heel of the Antichrist.

And, in this Scripture passage, Jesus Christ is describing the events: "the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."  These things will happen during the Tribulation.

And, we are told, "And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

This tells us that "His elect" -- in other words, the church, the Bride of Christ -- is already in heaven.  Notice this verse says "from one end of HEAVEN to the other."  It does not say, "from one end of the EARTH to the other."

The church is already in heaven.  How did the church happen to be in heaven during the Tribulation?  We are Raptured before the Tribulation begins.

And, this passage tells us,"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."

At His Second Coming, ALL the world will see Him.  Yet, at His imminent Rapture, only the believers will see Him.   How do I know  this?  Think about it.  If a person is a non-believer, even a devout atheist -- and sees the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the air, in all His glory -- that person would have to be either brain dead -- or be the world's greatest masochist or sadomasochist -- to deny Him at that time.

No, at the Rapture, many millions will suddenly disappear -- and the rest of the world will be concocting stories in an attempt to explain or rationalize what caused this to happen.  But, Matthew 28:30 tells us that all the tribes of the earth, every single person, will see Him coming at His Glorious Second Coming.

And, finally, we read in Revelation 19:6-9 of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb.  "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready" (Revelation 19:7).

This is occurring in heaven during the Tribulation.  For the Bride to have made herself ready -- she would have already have stood before Christ for the Believers' Judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 , 1 Peter 5:4).  Until the Bride has undergone this judgment, she will not be ready for her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

When did this Believers' Judgment happen?  Obviously during the Tribulation, before the Wedding.  How did the Bride, the church, get to this Believers' Judgment?  It was Raptured BEFORE the Tribulation began.  There can be no other explanation.

Therefore, the only viable sequence of events can be:  (1) the Imminent Rapture, (2) Believers' Judgment, (3) Wedding Feast of the Lamb, (4) Second Coming of Jesus Christ.  These all happen just before and during the seven year Tribulation.

Then, upon His Second Coming, we will see the Judgment of the surviving Remnant of Israel (Ezekiel 20:32-38), the Sheep and Goat Judgment of the surviving Gentile nations (Matthew 25:31-46), the Battle of Armageddon (Rev 16:14-16, 19-17-19), the Antichrist and False Prophet cast into the Lake of Fire (Rev 19:20), Satan cast into the abyss for 1000 years (Rev 20:1-3), and Christ will establish His Millennial Kingdom on the Throne of David in Jerusalem, where He will rule, the perfect theocracy, the world for 1000 years.

Winston, Biblically, there can be no other viable End Times scenario.

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill


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